Robin van Persie could be crucial for Manchester United against Liverpool (Picture: Getty Images)

Having been crowed champions of England for a record breaking 20 times in May, Manchester United host Liverpool as the underdogs with their rivals currently sitting 11 points ahead of them in the table.

Michael Carrick claimed this week that the comparative league positions between the two clubs make no difference when the sides face each other.

‘It’s Liverpool next and that’s a big one,’ said the former West Ham and Tottenham midfielder. ‘Regardless of where both teams are in the league it’s an important fixture. In recent times, with this rivalry, we’ve been on top of them in the league and it’s the other way around at the moment.

‘But I don’t think league places affect the game. We’d say it if we’re top of the table that form goes out of the window against Liverpool, it counts for very little, and that’s the case now. It should be a good game and we’re all looking forward to it.’

Liverpool’s strikers this season, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, have been on fire and have ensured that the Merseyside club can be considered title contenders. Their strikers have a combined 42 goals in 43 games, whilst Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney boast 22 goals in 40 games.

Ahead of the game, David Moyes has claimed that Liverpool travel to Old Trafford as favourites, which has earned him criticism amongst some United fans.

‘They possibly do come here favourites. Their league position suggests they are ahead of us. These games are big no matter what. It’s a massively important game because of what it means to supporters, and we want to keep climbing the table and clawing the points back and see what position we can get ourselves into.’

If Jose Mourinho had made there comments, with him repeatedly claiming that Chelsea aren’t title favourites despite their position in the table, they would have likely been described as mind games. As it Moyes, his pre-match opinions have been labelled as defeatist.

There’s no escaping the fact that Liverpool are the favourites for this fixture though. United’s home form sees them ranked 8th this season whilst Liverpool’s away form places them fifth in the league.

The champions have beaten Arsenal at home this season and drawn with Chelsea, which suggests that the result isn’t a forgone conclusion, but Liverpool’s performances this season suggest that they do come in to the game as favourites to leave with three points.